Filmmaker Arbaaz Khan says there were many requests for trailers to go with Dabangg 2, but Salman and he approved Bhaag Milkha Bhaag and Kai Po Che - movies of their pals Farhan Akhtar and Abhishek Kapoor

Around 14 producers and directors were trying to attach their movies’ theatrical trailers to Salman Khan-starrerDabangg 2, which releases December 21. But only two films have made it - Bhaag Milkha Bhaag and Kai Po Che.

Both the movies’ trailers have been picked because of Salman and his brother Arbaaz Khan’s personal relationship with the people involved.

Confirming the news, Arbaaz said, “Farhan Akhtar is a very close family friend. Salman and I have grown up with Farhan. He personally requested for Bhaag Milkha Bhaag trailer to go with our film sometime ago. There was no question of refusing. Then we saw the trailer attached to Talaash. So we asked Farhan if he still wants his trailer with Dabangg 2. He said ‘yes’. So it’s there.”

“The other trailer going with Dabangg 2 is also a dear friend’s film. Gattu (Abhishek Kapoor) and I have known each other for years. He wanted his trailer of Kai Po Che to go with our film. So it is going. No questions asked.”

Arbaaz admits there was an avalanche of requests for trailers to go with Dabangg 2. “I’d have loved to say yes to all of them. I love watching trailers when I go for a movie, the more the merrier. However, we wanted Dabangg 2 to be of a particular length – no more than two hours and 10 minutes, so that exhibitors could squeeze in an extra show if they so wanted, since there’s an unusual demand for screenings of Dabangg 2,” he said.

The trailers of both the films are being digitally encoded into prints of Dabangg 2, which means they have to be screened with the main feature film and cannot be deleted at the whim of individual exhibitors. “The decision to attach the two trailers was purely emotional. We didn’t think of what should go with our film. We only thought of the personal equation that we share with the people who asked to attach their trailers with us,” said Arbaaz.